indigenous arts: from villages to museums

on Paula Berbert

Dates: March 11, 13, 18, 20, 25 and 27, 2025
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Hour: 20h to 22h
Duration: 6 meetings
Audience: general interested parties
Investment: R $ 480,00

Online course
Live, via video conferencing platform
Recorded classes available for a limited time only
Includes certificate at the end

This course offers an introductory overview of the contemporary contexts of indigenous art in Brazil, with an emphasis on the growing visibility of these productions in the artistic scene.

In the first part, based on the analysis of works by indigenous artists and traditional expressions of different native peoples, participants will be invited to reflect on the perspectives of indigenous peoples themselves in relation to their forms of artistic expression. The multiple temporalities that permeate the practices of indigenous artists and curators will also be explored, considering how these practices are linked to the worldviews of their peoples, their art systems and the centuries-old resistance to colonization.

The second part of the course will be dedicated to case studies. We will analyze curatorships and artistic projects developed by indigenous artists in institutions and museums of the non-indigenous art system, with emphasis on exhibitions vexation (São Paulo Art Gallery, 2020), Moquém_Suraî (MAM-SP, 2021), nakoada (2022) and the Hãhãmpuá Pavilion (Venice Biennale, 2024). In addition, the Maxakali experience of the Aldeia-Escola-Floresta will be discussed as an indigenous community art-education project, aimed at strengthening traditional knowledge and revitalizing the territory.

The course will end with a session dedicated to the analysis of a final case study, chosen by the class, which will serve as a basis for a final reflection on the themes covered throughout the classes, pointing out possible developments and research paths in the field of indigenous arts.

Agenda

Class 01 – Indigenous Arts on their own terms

• Indigenous worldviews and art systems;
• Traditional and contemporary artistic practices: crossed temporalities;
• Contemporary indigenous art or contemporary indigenous art?

Class 02 – Encounters between worlds, encounters between art systems

• Colonial war as a form of encounter and relationship;
• Forms of representation of indigenous peoples and their expressive manifestations at different moments in the history of Western art in Brazil;
• Multiple meanings of “appropriations” and “borrowings” in contexts in which people, objects, concepts and languages ​​circulate between worlds.

Class 03 – Indigenous Arts, political struggles and activism 

• “Layer of resistance” always present in indigenous artistic and curatorial propositions;
• Contemporary Indigenous Art and its conditions of historical possibility;
• Indigenous protagonisms and self-representations as counter-forces against colonial traps;
• Indigenous arts and the possibility of building alliances.

Class 04 – Indigenous Curatorships: case studies

Analysis of some experiences of indigenous curators in art institutions:

• Véxoa: we know, organized in 2020 at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo by Naine Terena;
• Moquém_Surarî: contemporary indigenous art, organized by Jaider Esbell and Paula Berbert at MAM – SP in 2021;
• Nakoada: strategies for modern art, organized by Denilson Baniwa and Beatriz Lemos at MAM – RJ in 2022;
• Hãhãwpuá Pavilion, organized by Arissana Pataxó, Denilson Baniwa and Gustavo Caboco Wapichana at the 2024 Venice Biennale.

Class 05 – “Community-based Contemporary Indigenous Art”: study of the Maxakali experience of the Aldeia-Escola-Floresta

• The Tikmũ'ũn and their yãmĩyxop;
• The Maxakali's fight for their territory and the retaking of the Village-School-Forest;
• Community-based Maxakali indigenous art: reforestation as land art and art-education workshops.

Class 06 – Case study on class selection and course closing

• Analysis of the work of an artist or curatorial project chosen by the class;
• Summary of the content discussed throughout the course;
• Research perspectives in the field of indigenous arts.

MAM friend has 20% discount. Be part!
Students, teachers and retirees have a 10% discount
Doubts:
cursos@mam.org.br
WhatsApp: 11 99774 3987

By participating in this activity/event, you authorize, free of charge and definitively, MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, to use your image, voice, biographical data and characteristic signs, captured in video, audio, photography and prints, for the purposes of recording, disseminating and promoting the Museum's activities, in any means, vehicles, supports, media, methods and technologies, tangible or intangible. If you do not want your image to be disclosed, please inform MAM (cursos@mam.org.br)